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Oz
The Land of Oz is a far off country behind the moon and beyond the rain. Oz is roughly rectangular in shape, and divided along the diagonals into four countries: Munchkin Country (but commonly referred to as 'Munchkinland' in adaptations) in the East, Winkie Country in the West (sometimes West and East are reversed on maps of Oz, see West and East below), Gillikin Country in the North, and Quadling Country in the South. In the center of Oz, where the diagonals cross, is the fabled Emerald City, capital of the land of Oz and seat to the monarch of Oz, Princess Ozma. Most of these regions are settled with prosperous and contented people. However, this naturally is lacking in scope for plot. Numerous pockets throughout the land of Oz are cut off from the main culture, for geographic or cultural reasons. Many have never heard of Ozma, making it impossible for them to acknowledge her as their rightful queen. These regions are concentrated around the edges of the country, and constitute the main settings for books that are set entirely within Oz. The Lost Princess of Oz, for instance is set entirely in rough country in Winkie Country, between two settled areas. In Glinda of Oz, Ozma speaks of her duty to discover all these stray corners of Oz. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, a yellow brick road leads from the lands of the Munchkins to the Emerald City. Other such roads featured in other works: one from Gillikin Country in The Marvelous Land of Oz, and a second one from Munchkin Land in The Patchwork Girl of Oz. Oz is completely surrounded on all four sides by a desert, which insulates the citizens of Oz from discovery and invasion. In the first two books, this is merely a natural desert, with only its extent making it dangerous to the traveler, but in The Road to Oz it is said to turn anyone who touches it to sand. Indeed, in The Marvelous Land of Oz, Mombi tries to escape through it and Glinda chases her over the sands. Still, it is the dividing land between the magic of Oz and the outside world, and the Winged Monkeys can not obey Dorothy's command to carry her home because it would take them outside the lands of Oz. In Ozma of Oz, it has become a magical desert, the Deadly Desert with life-destroying sands, a feature that remained constant through the rest of the series, although no actual destruction is depicted in the Oz books, unlike in the film Return to Oz. The desert has nonetheless been breached numerous times, both by children from our world (mostly harmless), by the Wizard of Oz himself, and by more sinister characters, such as the Nome King, who attempted to conquer Oz. After such an attempt in The Emerald City of Oz, the book ends with Glinda creating a barrier of invisibility around the Land of Oz, for further protection. This was, indeed, an earnest effort on Baum's part to end the series, but the insistence of readers meant the continuation of the series, and therefore the discovery of many ways for people to pass through this barrier as well as over the sands. Despite this continual evasion, the barrier itself remained; nowhere in any Oz book did Baum hint that the inhabitants were even considering removing the magical barrier. Trivia * Juniper Lee travels to the Land of OZ in Juniper Lee's Adventures of the Lion of OZ. Category:Locations Category:Kingdoms